One of the great things about rolling into the new year is taking the opportunity to let go of the past and look ahead toward the future.  With that in mind, I have decided to change the weekly blog format.  Over the past two years, we explored a "conceptlet" every week but, in looking back over the last fifty or so "conceptlets," I realized that I have been occasionally repeating myself.  Such is the nature of blogging over a long period of time.  You forget what you already forgot. 

I also realized that, aside from the episodic rants, the content was mostly educational in nature.  While that has been helpful to many, many people over the course of the last two years...more and more sites have sprung up that are specifically geared toward educating those still dipping their toe into the innovation waters (www.innovationtools.com; www.realinnovation.com; www.creax.net; www.cul.co.uk; www.mycoted.com)       

So, you ask, what is this new blog format going to entail?  Well, it is simply going to be a compendium of innovation-related thoughts and observations on a non-regular basis (at least once per week...but hopefully much more frequent).  Look for reviews of books, other blogs, and articles.  Expect many random thoughts about innovation, organizational creativity and business management in general.  Anticipate more in the way of graphics, photos and other eye candy.  I might even mix in an interview or two this year.  And...based on the many comments and e-mails from people who enjoy and look forward to the innovation/creativity related quotes every week, I have decided to keep that going as well.  In fact, here you go:

"Without change there is no innovation, creativity, or incentive for improvement.  Those who initiate change will have a better opportunity to manage the change that is inevitable." - William Pollard

This new approach is also going to support what I am calling my 2008 Vision.  The 2008 Vision, my personal and professional wish for the coming year, is to accomplish one of the following three goals (in order of preference):

• "Combine and Conquer"
• I have decided that it is very lonely and too time consuming to tackle this kind of business alone.  Additionally, the amount of available work and budget money being freed up for innovation initiatives is rapidly increasing.  To be honest, BusinessWeek has it right...Demand from corporate clients for help in executing innovation is surging, and consolidation in the innovation field is on the rise.  In response to providing boutique-like alternatives to the McKinsey's and BCG's of the world, I think that more and more non-"Big 5" consortiums of talented innovation professionals, design professionals, marketing professionals, etc. are on the horizon.  Therefore, to support that belief, I will be actively seeking merger opportunities and partnership agreements in 2008.  Fair warning however, I am only considering true partnerships, Principal positions, executive management team level.  - OR -
• "Forge Ahead With Reckless Abandon"
• With the full belief of the opinions stated above, and if the prospect of a merger/dissolution does not pan out, this may finally be the year that I make the leap from doing the consulting work "part time" to going at it full throttle.  I just need to practice what I preach about being bold and courageous.  It doesn't solve my problem of wishing to work directly with other like-minded passionate people, but it does solve the very time consuming two full time jobs problem; - OR -
• "Sell My Soul To The Company Store"
• In a complete reversal of my 2007 position, I have decided to entertain career opportunities with individual organizations who are sincere about innovation and innovation management.  Unfortunately, the headhunting activity last year was full of quick fix, almost knee-jerk, opportunities at organizations playing "follow the leader."  I have started exploratory discussions with some folks who appear to be serious about developing an executive-level innovation program.  However, due to my entreprenurial spirit, this does remain as my least favored option unless the right opportunity presents itself.

As you can probably guess from the overall tone of this message, I am looking to simplify my life in 2008.  I am also looking to focus 100% of my effort on innovation and organizational creativity.  In essence, the "what" has become more important than the "where."

Before wrapping up this entry, I would like to take this opportunity to thank those who have taken the time, either directly or indirectly, to comment, support, link to, argue with, and otherwise engage via this blog in the last year...especially:
Cheryl Perkins
James Todhunter
Chuck Frey
Paul Williams (no...the other one... )
Mitch Ditkoff
Lauchlan MacKinnon
Dominic Basulto

Finally...and MOST importantly....to the new clients who discovered (and trusted in) Think For A Change, LLC. in 2007...THANK YOU!!!